


One Hundred Ways to Say "I Love You"

by golden_gardenias



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: Dorks in Love~, Fluff, M/M, will add tags and characters as they become relevant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-16
Updated: 2015-01-16
Packaged: 2018-03-07 20:44:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3182516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/golden_gardenias/pseuds/golden_gardenias
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You were right; Brian told me he loved me.  Every day.  Even though he never said it.  Even though he never will."</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Hundred Ways to Say "I Love You"

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by the Shameless fic of the same name and [this post](http://p0ck3tf0x.tumblr.com/post/98502010026/one-hundred-ways-to-say-i-love-you)
> 
> these vignettes aren't in any kind of chronological order, so i'll tell you where they fit in the show's timeline in the notes before each installment. this one is set post season five.

The air between them was thick with tension, and Justin drummed his fingers angrily against his wrist.  He could see Brian clenching his jaw out the corner of his eye, his knuckles white on the steering wheel.  They’d been been in the car for nearly an hour now, trying to find the location of Emmett’s latest soiree.  Brian was convinced that Justin had remembered it wrong, and had been dropping hints that they should turn around and forget about it since they’d hit the twenty-minute mark.

“The thing started almost two hours ago,” he gritted out.  “Shit, it’ll be over soon anyway!”

“Emmett is expecting us, and we’re going to support him,” Justin retorted.  “We’d probably be there by now if you hadn’t insisted on being ‘fashionably late.’”

“No, we’d be there by now if you actually knew where the fuck we were supposed to be going,” he snapped.

Justin narrowed his eyes.  “I told you exactly what Emmett told me!  You could’ve looked it up on MapQuest if you didn’t know where it was!”

“The problem isn’t that I don’t know where it is, it’s that the address you gave me _doesn’t fucking exist!_ ”

“Emmett wouldn’t have given me the wrong address for his own event, Brian!”

Brian groaned, taking a hand off the steering wheel to pinch the bridge of his nose.  “I know that, Sunshine,” he said, voice hard.  “You don’t think that maybe--just maybe--you could’ve mixed up the numbers?  Or got the name of the street confused with something that rhymes with it?”

“I wrote it down when he called me, Brian!  It went right from the phone to _this_ paper!”  He reached into his pocket and procured a folded up half-sheet, smoothing it out and thrusting it into Brian’s face.  “You see?”

“I’ve never even heard of that street before, Justin!  I told you that at home, but _no_ , you’re _always_ right, you _never_ make mistakes--”

“When have I said I never make mistakes?” he demanded.  “Just because _you’re_ not mature enough to admit when you’re wrong doesn’t mean you have to project it onto me.”

Brian barked out a deranged laugh.  “Oh, _I’m_ not mature?  Who stole my credit card and ran away to New York because he didn’t get his way?”

“I was seventeen!   _You_ were the one who tried to kill yourself because you were turning thirty.   _And_ you’re the one who fucked a nurse while one of your best friends was laying in the next bed, comatose!”

“Christ, Ted told you about that?  Fucking hell.”

“There’s a lot more where that came from, believe me,” Justin warned darkly.

Brian rolled his eyes.  “I hardly think that having a high sex drive is a sign of immaturity,” he sniffed.

“Of course you don’t,” Justin muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, _dear_ ,” he replied waspishly.

Brian grumbled to himself for a moment--Justin thought he heard “fucking whiny brat,” but he couldn’t be sure--before refocusing his attention on the seemingly endless stretch of road in front of them.  Silence had descended upon them again, but this one was slightly more amiable than the last.  Amiable enough for Justin to notice Brian stifling a yawn, at any rate.   _He’s been driving for almost an hour and a half, and it was already kinda late..._

He watched Brian for a few more minutes, taking in the way he took a hand off the wheel to rub his eyes and sighed every so often.  “Pull over,” he said finally.

Brian turned to him, confused.  “There’s nothing but fucking _barns_ over here, Sunshine--”

“Pull over,” he repeated gently.  “Let me drive for a while.”

Brian hesitated, pulling his lips into his mouth.  “Do you even have a license?”

Justin laughed.  “ _Yes_.  Your memory’s not what it used to be, old man.”

“Oho, you’re one to talk.  Where are we going, again?”

Justin rolled his eyes.  “Just pull over, will you?”

Brian obliged him, and they got out to switch seats.  “Be careful,” he warned.  “This car is worth more than your aborted education.”

“So no drag racing?”

“With what, a horse and buggy?”

He decided not to dignify the quip with a response, and they--once again--settled into silence.

Justin drove for another harrowing ten minutes--"Will you fucking slow the fuck down?  Christ, how did you pass your test?”--maneuvering backroads that Brian didn’t even know existed before trying (and failing) to hide a smug smile and parking along a curb.  “We’re here,” he said, quirking a saucy eyebrow at his partner.

Brian furrowed his brow and squinted at the luminous pathway leading to the venue.  They could hear one of Emmett’s CDs reverberating through the air, and a pinched look came over Brian’s face.  “How did you do that?” he demanded.

Justin only winked, getting out of the car and practically skipping over to Brian’s side to open the door for him.

“You ever think about getting your eyes checked?” he asked, looping his arm with Brian’s and tugging him up the walk.

“Why the fuck would I do that?  My eyesight’s fine.”

“Oh really?  Then perhaps you could explain to me why you got off on the wrong exit?  Twice?”

Brian froze.  “I did not.”

“You did too,” Justin teased.  “But it’s okay; you’d be hot in glasses.”

“I’m not getting glasses.”

“Not even some super sexy ones with thick frames?”

“I don’t need glasses, Justin.”

“It would complete your ‘Grumpy Old Man’ aesthetic.”

“Aesthetic--what the fuck are you talking about?”

“Marlon Brando wore glasses.”

“He did not,” Brian scoffed.

“Well I’m sure he did at some point.”

“Fuck off.”

“Bono wears glasses.”

“Who gives a shit?”

“James Dean!  James Dean wore glasses, I know he did!  I’ve seen pictures.”

“Good for you.  That doesn’t mean that I’m getting any.”

 

* * *

 

Two weeks later, Brian had a pair of glasses exactly like the ones James Dean wore.  Ted teased him relentlessly for not being able to put contacts in, but Justin maintained that he was still the hottest grumpy old man he’d ever seen.

**Author's Note:**

> soo...like it? hate it? let me know!


End file.
